Resident Evil: Chronicles HD Collection Review

Date: 7/2/2012

By Kevin "Berserker" Hall

Player(s): 1-2
Extra Features: Local Coop (2 players), Leaderboards

It's a great time to be a fan of the Resident Evil series. Revelations,
Operation Raccoon City and the upcoming Resident Evil 6 are all released this
year, so a Resident Evil fan should be in heaven right about now. And believe
me, I am! Along with the new games listed above is a compilation of both Wii RE:
Chronicles games entitled Resident Evil Chronicles HD Collection. This on-rails
shooter collection is exclusive to the PS Store and includes Umbrella Chronicles
and Darkside Chronicles for the asking price of $26.99.

Both titles are presented in widescreen with a 1080p presentation. They both
have redone HD graphics and look a lot better than they did on Wii. Wii has more
of a foggy appearance even at its highest display setting but Chronicles HD is
crystal clear. A leaderboard has now been added to Umbrella Chronicles so now
both games have a leaderboard for posting scores. Both games carry their own
trophy set as well. The games still have a local coop option with the use of a
second controller or Move. Both games are fully playable with a PS3 controller
or a PS Move.

Umbrella Chronicles summarizes the events that took place in Resident Evil Zero,
1 and 3. It adds side story scenarios that help to explain some of the story
that was never told in the main games. Umbrella also has a fourth scenario that
shows how the Umbrella Corporation was brought down with the help of Chris and
Jill. Each scenario has around 2-3 shooter stages to play through. Umbrella
Chronicles has a lot to offer with its many hidden scenarios and it's overall
easy to play. The game allows a player to upgrade weapons and there are many
collectible files spread across its stages. It encourages players to destroy
everything in the environment to check for hidden pickups and files.

The game requires a player to perform certain objectives such as destroy a
certain number of environmental objects or shoot a certain number of zombies
directly in the forehead for a headshot in order to finish a stage with an
S-rank. With a normal PS3 controller, this gets very hard to do. Umbrella
basically requires a Move controller for full enjoyment of the game. Progressing
through the story isn't that much of a problem with a PS3 controller so long as
I upgraded my weapons however for the steep difficulty curve around Mansion
Incident 3 in the scenarios list.

Darkside Chronicles introduces a new scenario known as "Operation Javier" that
takes place before Resident Evil 4. This scenario has Leon and Krauser in it and
gives them both some extra backstory leading up to the events of Resident Evil
4. Darkside is much more creative in its storytelling with how it reflects on
the events of Resident Evil 2 and Code Veronica X scenarios while telling the
new scenario of Operation Javier. Even the menu selection is creative in its
shards of glass presentation, sort of like fragmented memories.

Even with only three main scenarios, Darkside is quite long since each scenario
has several more stages when compared to Umbrella Chronicles. The Resident Evil
2 scenario stands out as being the most faithful to the actual game out of both
Chronicles games to me. Darkside has one extra scenario and it still has plenty
of files that can be collected in its environments. All weapons can still be
upgraded through the use of gold found in the environments. Darkside allows a
player to upgrade the default handgun, which can help out greatly for later
stages. Darkside Chronicles is a lot less forgiving than Umbrella Chronicles in
terms of difficulty. While this is good for overall challenge, it also makes it
more frustrating with its flaws.

The main problem with Darkside is that it has a very shaky camera throughout all
of its gameplay. The camera shakes as the characters run or do any type of
movement. Even though the shaky camera does add to the overall realism of the
game and looks quite nice when viewing it, while playing the game, the shaky
camera will mess up your aim quite often. The camera was bad enough on the Wii
version with a motion controller, but with a PS3 controller, Darkside is nearly
unplayable in a lot of sections without a Move. When a player goes to reload,
the cursor on the screen disappears and this really messes up my aiming with a
PS3 controller. The on-screen targeting cursor also blurs a lot with quick
movements, which makes it even harder to keep track of with a PS3 controller.
With a motion controller, these flaws are not even noticeable since you have an
idea of where the cursor is when you finally stop it or get done reloading.

RE: Chronicles HD Collection gives a player the ultimate version of Umbrella
Chronicles and Darkside Chronicles, but you need to have a PS Move to fully
enjoy them. They are playable with the PS3 controller, but the cursor cannot
move fast enough at times to shoot all on-screen enemies as they attack.
Umbrella Chronicles is more forgiving when using a PS3 controller since the
camera does not shake that much at all and the overall action is slower.
Darkside can be a catastrophe with a PS3 controller. Darkside can even be bad
with motion controls because of its shaky camera. Both games offer some nice
shooter gameplay with many extras for an RE fan however. With a PS Move, I'd
highly recommend both, but without one, I'd recommend buying them on the Wii to
play them with the Wii controller.

The Good:
+ The ultimate version of Umbrella Chronicles and Darkside Chronicles
+ Graphics have been upgraded to HD with 1080p widescreen presentation

The Bad:
- Shaky camera in Darkside is still very annoying like it was in the Wii version
- Darkside Chronicles is very frustrating without motion controls

Final Rating: 80%. Resident Evil Chronicles HD Collection has a full summary of all the older Resident Evil titles with on-rails shooter gameplay, but you need a PS Move to get the most out of it.